Isaiah 44
44
Yahweh, the Only True God
1-2“Now, listen to me, my servant Jacob,
Israel, my chosen one.
I am Yahweh, your Creator, who shaped you in my womb. # 44:1–2 There is no verse in the Bible that speaks of God as our mother, but there are frequent metaphors that imply God gave us birth (and new birth), nurtured us in his love, and even formed us in his womb. The love God has for us is similar to a mother’s love. The Hebrew concept of compassion carries this thought, for the Hebrew word for “compassion” (racham) is the same word as “womb.” God has a womb-love for each of us. This thought resurfaces more than once in these later chapters of Isaiah.
Hear what I have to say to you:
‘Don’t fear. I will help you, O Jacob my servant,
Do not fear, my pleasing one, # 44:1–2 Or “Jeshurun,” a symbolic name for Israel showing her unique, intimate relationship with God. It is taken from the root word yashar, “to please.” Others translate this endearing term for Israel as “upright one.” God will straighten out the crookedness of Jacob. “Jeshurun” is found only here and in Deuteronomy (see Deut. 32:15; 33:5, 26). Israel.
3I will pour refreshing water on the thirsty
and streams on the dry ground.
I will pour out my Spirit on your children, # 44:3 See Acts 2:12–17.
my blessing upon your descendants.
4They will spring up like grass blanketing a meadow, # 44:4 Or “like a binu-tree” (Dead Sea scroll 1QIsaa).
like poplars growing by gushing streams.
5One will say, “I belong to Yahweh.”
Another will be called Jacob.
Yet another will write on his hand # 44:5 Or “with his own hand.” “Property of Yahweh.”
Another will adopt the name Israel.’ ”
6The words of Yahweh,
Israel’s true King # 44:6 See Matt. 27:42; Mark 15:32; John 1:49; 12:13. and Kinsman-Redeemer,
Yahweh, Commander of Angel Armies, says:
“I am the Beginning and I am the Ending, # 44:6 Or “I am the First, and I am the Last.”
and I am the only God there is.
7Who is like me? Go ahead, stand and speak up.
I’ll wait for him to announce it and explain it all to me!
Who else has announced from everlasting # 44:7 The Hebrew word for “everlasting” is ʿolam, and there are nine more everlasting things found in Isaiah: (1) everlasting God (Isa. 40:28), (2) everlasting covenant (Isa. 55:3; 61:8), (3) everlasting kindness (Isa. 54:8), (4) everlasting salvation (Isa. 45:17), (5) everlasting majesty of God’s people (Isa. 60:15), (6) everlasting joy (Isa. 51:11), (7) everlasting favor (Isa. 56:5), (8) everlasting light (Isa. 60:19–20), and (9) everlasting signs (Isa. 55:13). what is to come? # 44:7 Or “from my placing an eternal people and things to come.” The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
Let him prophesy what is yet to be.
8Do not fear nor be shaken!
Haven’t I foretold it, announcing it to you ahead of time?
You are my witnesses, so tell me, is there any god besides me?
There is no other Rock of shelter; I know not one.”
9Idol-makers amount to nothing,
and the things they treasure can do no one any good.
They are witnesses with blind eyes who know nothing;
they will be disgraced.
10What kind of person would form an idol-god
or cast an image with no ability to do any good?
11No wonder those who worship them # 44:11 Or “those who produce them.” will be put to shame.
Their craftsmen are only human beings.
Let them all come together and take their stand.
They will all be terrified and put to shame!
12The blacksmith takes his tongs and heats it over the coals,
forming it with hammers, forging it with his strong arm.
But when he gets hungry, his strength ebbs away,
and if he doesn’t drink water, he quickly grows weary.
13The woodworker stretches out a measuring line,
then marks it and fashions his idol-god with his carving tools.
Then he uses a stylus to trace it out on the wood # 44:13 Or “rounds it with his instruments.”
and shapes it into the figure of a man,
trying to make it look like a beautiful human
to be displayed somewhere in a shrine.
14He chooses a cedar or a cypress or an oak,
but first lets it grow strong in the forest.
He plants a pine tree, and it is nourished by the rain.
15The wood serves man for fuel;
some he uses to warm himself
and with some he bakes his bread.
But from this same wood he also makes a god to worship
and bows down to the idol he formed.
16Half of the wood he burns in the fire to roast his meat.
Then he eats his fill and is satisfied.
Part he uses to warm himself and says,
“Ah, I’m warm and cozy sitting by the fire.”
17With the rest of it he makes his idol-god,
bows down to it, and worships it!
He prays to it, saying, “Save me, for you are my god!”
18They have no clue what they’re doing
and don’t comprehend how absurd it is!
For they shut their eyes so they cannot see.
They close their hearts so they cannot understand.
19They have no knowledge, no understanding,
no discernment to say,
“Half of the wood I burned in the fire.
I roasted meat and cooked my dinner.
Now should I take the rest of the wood
and make it into an abomination?
Should I bow down and worship a block of wood?”
20He feeds his spirit on ashes! # 44:20 Or “the shepherd of ashes.”
His deluded heart leads him astray.
He can’t even ask himself,
“Is this thing I’m holding in my right hand a fraud?”
God Never Forgets Israel
21“Remember these things, O Jacob’s tribes,
and Israel, you are my servant.
I created you to be my servant, and I will never forget you!
22I have swept away your sins like a thick cloud. # 44:22 This “thick cloud” of our sins was a barrier between God and man. Grace has swept it away so that we can freely come before him.
I have made your guilt vanish
like mist disappearing into thin air.
Now come back, come back to me,
for I have paid the price for you.” # 44:22 See Gal. 3:13–14.
23Sing! Starry sky above, break loose with singing,
for Yahweh has finished it!
Shout! Earth deep below, give up your shout!
Mountains high, break out with joyous songs of praise!
Let the forest choirs join in, with every tree singing its notes!
For Yahweh has paid the ransom price for Jacob’s tribes,
and he will be glorified in Israel!
God Is in Control
24Here is what Yahweh,
your Kinsman-Redeemer, who formed you in his womb, has to say:
“I am Yahweh, Creator of all.
I alone stretched out the canvas of the cosmos.
I who shaped the earth needed no one’s help.
25Now I make fools of fortune-tellers
and frustrate astrologers’ predictions.
I confuse the wise, who think they know it all,
and make their ‘knowledge’ into foolishness.
26I confirm the word of my servants
and fulfill the prophecies of my messengers.
I say to Jerusalem, ‘Many people will live in you again,’
and to the cities of Judah, ‘I will raise up your ruins; you will be rebuilt!’
27I say to deep waters, ‘Dry up!’ and to rivers, ‘Become dry!’ # 44:27 This actually happened at the taking of Babylon by Cyrus. See Jer. 50:38; 51:31–36.
28I say concerning Cyrus, # 44:28 Cyrus, king of Persia, reigned from 559–529 BC. He permitted the Jews to return from captivity to Jerusalem and issued a decree to authorize the temple to be rebuilt (2 Chron. 36:22–23; Ezra 1:1–4). Even though Isaiah prophesied 175 years before Cyrus became king, he called him by name. This is one of the greatest proofs of God’s omniscience and sovereignty as well as the supernatural aspect of prophecy. ‘He is my shepherd,
and he will carry out all the purposes I have for him,’
saying to Jerusalem, ‘You will be rebuilt and flourish again!’
saying to the temple, ‘You will be reconstructed!’ ” # 44:28 Josephus, the Jewish historian, wrote that “when Cyrus read this [Isaiah’s prophecy], and admired the Divine Power, an earnest desire and ambition seized upon him to fulfill what was so written.” These verses in chs. 44–45 convinced Cyrus to issue the decree to rebuild the temple. See Josephus, Ant. 11.1.2 and Ezra 5:13.
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Isaiah 44: TPT
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Learn More About The Passion TranslationIsaiah 44
44
The Blessings of Israel
1“But now listen, O Jacob, My servant,
And Israel, whom I have chosen:
2This is what the Lord who made you
And formed you from the womb, who will help you says,
‘Fear not, O Jacob My servant;
And Jeshurun (Israel, the upright one) whom I have chosen.
3For I will pour out water on him who is thirsty,
And streams on the dry ground;
I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring
And My blessing on your descendants;
4And they will spring up among the grass
Like willows by the streams of water.’
5One will say, ‘I am the Lord’s’;
And another will name himself after Jacob;
And another will write on his hand, ‘I am the Lord’s,’
And be called by the [honorable] name of Israel.
6“For the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts says this,
‘I am the First and I am the Last;
And there is no God besides Me.
7Who is like Me? Let him proclaim it and declare it;
Yes, let him confront Me,
Since I established the people of antiquity.
And let them [those supposed gods] tell those people [who foolishly follow them] the things to come
And the events that are going to take place.
8Do not tremble nor be afraid [of the violent upheavals to come];
Have I not long ago proclaimed it to you and declared it?
And you are My witnesses.
Is there a God besides Me?
There is no other Rock;
I know of none.’ ”
The Folly of Idolatry
9All who make carved idols are nothing. Their precious objects are worthless [to them], and their own witnesses (worshipers) fail to see or know, so that they will be put to shame. 10Who has made a god or cast an idol which is profitable for nothing? 11In fact, all his companions will be put to shame, for the craftsmen themselves are mere men. Let them all assemble, let them stand up, let them be terrified, let them together be put to shame.
12The ironsmith shapes iron and uses a chisel and works it over the coals. He forms the [idol’s] core with hammers and works it with his strong arm. He also becomes hungry and his strength fails; he drinks no water and grows tired. 13The carpenter stretches out a measuring line, he marks out the shape [of the idol] with red chalk; he works it with planes and outlines it with the compass; and he makes it like the form of a man, like the beauty of man, that it may sit in a house. 14He cuts cedars for himself, and takes a cypress or an oak and lets it grow strong for himself among the trees of the forest. He plants a fir, and the rain nourishes it. 15Then it becomes fuel for a man to burn, so he takes one of them and warms himself; he also kindles a fire to bake bread. He also makes a god [from the same wood] and worships it. He makes it into a carved idol [with his own hands] and falls down and worships it! 16He burns half of the wood in the fire; over this half he [cooks and] eats meat, he roasts meat and is satisfied. Also he warms himself and says, “Aha! I am warm, I have seen the fire.” 17But from what is left of the wood he makes a god, his carved idol. He falls down before it, he worships it and prays to it and says, “Save me, for you are my god.”
18They do not know, nor do they understand, for God has muddied their eyes so that they cannot see, and their hearts (minds) as well so that they cannot understand. 19No one remembers, nor has knowledge and understanding [enough] to say [to himself], “I have burned half of this log in the fire, and also baked bread on its coals and have roasted meat and eaten it. Then I make the rest of it into an repulsive thing [to God]; I bow down [to worship] before a block of wood!” 20That kind of man (the idolater) feeds on ashes [and is satisfied with ashes]! A deceived mind has led him astray, so that he cannot save himself, or ask, “Is this thing [that I am holding] in my right hand not a lie?”
God Forgives and Redeems
21“Remember [the foolishness of] these things, O Jacob
And Israel, for you are My servant!
I formed you, you are My servant;
O Israel, you will not be forgotten by Me.
22I have wiped out your transgressions like a thick cloud
And your sins like a heavy mist.
Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.”
23Shout for joy, O heavens, for the Lord has done it!
Shout in triumph, you depths of the earth;
Break forth into jubilant rejoicing, you mountains,
O forest, and every tree in it!
For the Lord has redeemed Jacob,
And He shows His glory in Israel.
24For the Lord, your Redeemer, and He who formed you from the womb says this,
“I am the Lord, Maker of all things,
Who alone stretches out the heavens,
Who spreads out the earth #Lit who was with Me?by Myself,
25Frustrating the signs and confounding the omens of boasters (false prophets),
Making fools out of #The Hebrew is a synonym of diviner, referring to people who claimed to tell the future by such methods as casting lots and examining the livers of certain animals.fortune-tellers,
Counteracting the wise
And making their knowledge ridiculous,
26Confirming the word of His servant
And carrying out the plan of His messengers.
It is I who says of Jerusalem, ‘She shall [again] be inhabited!’
And of the cities of Judah, ‘They shall [again] be built.’
And I will raise up and restore her ruins.
27 It is I who says to the deep, ‘Be dried up!’
And I will make your rivers dry.
28 It is I who says of Cyrus, ‘He is My shepherd (ruler),
And he will carry out all that I desire—’
Saying of Jerusalem, ‘She shall [again] be built,’
And of the temple, ‘Your foundation shall [again] be laid.’ ”
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